Cockney sparrows

Cockney sparrows

Stephen Moss on the Italian sparrow (Birdwatch, 21 March) reminded me that about 40 years ago I saw in a market in Pisa a bundle of about a dozen sparrows strung up by their necks, clearly on sale to be eaten. That "sparrow pie" was once a common dish in London is evident from the remains of sparrow pots that were hung on the walls of houses to encourage the birds to nest in accessible places. The pots had a "robber hole" where the fledgling birds could be taken to provide a supplement to the family diet.

Gavin Weightman

London

• Instead of moaning about rising fuel prices marooning drivers in their villages (Report, 19 March), the AA should oppose the wholesale withdrawal of rural bus services. People in towns and villages that have maintained a mixture of bus, train and car continue to enjoy mobility whatever the cost of petrol.

Anthony Walker

Durham

• Carsten Nickel (Letters, 21 March) objects to drawing parallels between Munich and Silicon Valley on the grounds that "if you want to be Palo Alto, you can't live off Pittsburgh". The US high-tech sector would barely exist were it not for decades of military spending on R&D and procurement.

Michael Stewart

Newtownabbey, County Antrim

• I know we don't have major earthquakes (Reports, passim), but I remember being panic-stricken circa 1957 in Nottingham sitting in French lessons when the statues of Our Lady and the Sacred Heart wobbled alarmingly and Sister Mary ordered us to vacate the classroom saying Hail Marys as we ran.

Jane Lawson

London

• Paul Heaton (We're no king's town, 21 March) forgot to mention that the good people of 'Ull have tended to position royal statues (Queen Victoria, King Billy) above subterranean public toilets.

Jennie Hurd

Lichfield, Staffordshire

• Kevin Barron (Letters, 22 March) is confused over the health bill despite "having sat on the standing committee". Would it help to stand on a sitting committee?